Background The forest school and nature kindergarten approach to early childhood education and care (ECEC) has been established for well over 50 years in the United Kingdom and across parts of Europe including Scandinavia. One example where the nature kindergarten approach has recently taken a foothold is the Australian 'bush kinder'. Bush kinders are gaining popularity in the delivery of ECEC to four- and five-year-old Australian children. They provide children an opportunity to learn through a play-based experience, often with the child leading their learning, supported by the educator. This longitudinal research project examining STEM teaching and learning in bush kinders began in 2015 with further data collection occurring in 2017, 2020 and 2023.
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Speldewinde et al. (2024) studied this question.
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